IES950608A2 - Tamper-evident animal ear tags - Google Patents

Abstract

An ear tag comprising interfitting male and female parts (5,6) for fixing the tag to an animal's ear, the male part (5) having a head (31) for piercing an animal's ear and the female part having a receiver hole (6) through which the head of the male part is passed to interfit the parts, wherein the female part includes a cap (245) which receives the head of the male part (5) when the parts are interfitted and the cap has a crown portion (171) which is rigid and/or frangible. The cap (245) comprises a housing of soft plastics material and an insert (170) of rigid and/or brittle material which provides the crown portion (171). The insert may be of brittle or rigid plastics material having a different colour from that of the soft plastics material of the housing, or it may be of metal such as stainless steel. <Fig. 11>

Description

TAMPER-EVIDENT ANIMAL EAR TAGS This invention relates to ear tags for animals, particularly for use in marking farm animals in disease eradication programmes or in stock control.

Various forms of animal ear tags are commercially available and/or are described in the patent literature. Such tags generally have a fixing device comprising male and female parts, the male part of which is inserted through the animal's ear. The male and female parts may each be attached to a separate plate or tab, or they may be joined by a looped strip.

WO 91/10982 and Irish Patent Specification S6OO57 of the present Applicants describe animal ear tags comprising interfitting male and female parts for fixing the tag to an animal's ear, in which the female part comprises a receiver hole enclosed by a frusto-conical protective cap which receives the head of the male part when the two parts of the tag are interfitted. Inside the cap there is located a domed split washer or speed clip or Starlock washer which engages a neck portion of the male part. However it may be possible fog an unscrupulous person with suitable tools to apply pressure on UOPdWsIwliixjF-iffife'CcdjMSPECTION UNDER SECTION 28 AND RULE 23 JNL No../.7.59.........OF .£/Λ/^.. 950609’ - 2 sufficiently to force the head of the male part past the washer or clip and thus open the tag. If the crown of the cap is made of soft flexible plastics material, as described in WO 91/1098 2 and IE S60057, the crown may resile after pressure is removed from it, so that there is a potential risk that the tag could be re-used and it would be difficult to identify any evidence that tampering had taken place.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome this problem. It is also an object of the present application to describe variations in the embodiments of the invention of IE S60057.

The present invention provides an ear tag comprising interfitting male and female parts for fixing the tag to an animal's ear, the male part having a head for piercing an animal's ear and the female part having a receiver hole through which the head of the male part is passed to interfit the parts, wherein the female part includes a cap which receives the head of the male part when the parts are interfitted and the cap has a crown portion which is not resiliently deformable.

It is to be understood that while the crown may have some minimal level of resilient deformability, it should not be resiliently deformable to a significant extent. The crown portion is aligned with the head of the male part and if an attempt is made to push the male part out of engagement with the female part by pressing on the crown portion, the crown portion should remain rigid (in which case tampering is prevented), or it should be permanently deformed, e.g. by identation, or it should break (with the result that visible evidence is provided of the tampering). A cap with a flexible crown portion, particularly of soft plastics material, may flex to allow pressure to be applied to the head of the male part (to an extent sufficient to unseat the head of the male part from the female part) and then resile back to its rest position.

The crown portion may be rigid and/or frangible.

Preferably the cap comprises a housing of soft plastics material and an insert of rigid and/or brittle material which provides the 0 6 0 8 ' - 3 crown portion. More particularly, the insert is of brittle plastics material or of reinforced plastics material, in either case having a different colour from that of the soft plastics material of the housing, or is of metal, preferably stainless steel.

In one embodiment, the crown portion is perforated by holes.

In the preferred embodiments of the invention described herein, the ear tag also comprises a strip of soft flexible plastics material which has the male part of the tag mounted therein at one end of the strip and the female part of the tag close to the other end of the strip. In this case, the cap housing is preferably moulded integrally with the strip.

The strip of soft plastics material may have a portion which is of reduced thickness (i.e. perpendicular to the plane of the strip) equidistant from the male and female parts. This facilitates folding of the strip to form a looped ear tag, and it also provides a weakened region in the tag. A looped ear tag is advantageous as compared to a tag having two separate plates or buttons because a length of wire or twine which is anchored at both ends can become snagged behind one of the plates or buttons, leading to the tag being torn out of the animal's ear, whereas a closed loop prevents this. However in the event (which is more unlikely) of a prong such as a short length of bull wire with a free end entering inside the loop and getting caught there, the presence of a weakened region at the hinge of the loop will allow the strip to break rather than to be pulled out of the ear.

The weakening of the strip at the hinge of the loop may be further enhanced by moulding the strip in a mould with two gates, one for each limb of the strip, so that the plastics material flowing from two directions meets in the hinge region but does not bond as strongly together as the plastics material in a single flow.

The term soft plastics material or softer plastics materials used herein refers generally to a plastics material having a softness and flexibility comparable to that of the plates or tabs of 0 6 0 8’’ - 4 commercially available ear tags, e.g. a polyurethane elastomer such as the polyesterurethane having Shore-hardness A/D (DIN 53,505) of 92/42 sold by Bayer AG under the Trade Mark DESMOPAN 590. The term hard plastics material or harder plastics material refers generally to a plastics material (including a filled plastics material) which is stiff and rigid, and comparable to that which is used in the male part of commercially-available ear tags such as those sold under the Trade Mark DALTON. More preferably it should have a high tensile strength at yield, e.g. of the order of 100 N/mm^ (ASTM D630) or Mgher7”and~ff~~ 2 high rigidity, e.g. a flexural modulus of the order of 3300 N/mrn (ASTM D790) or higher.

The rivet contained in the male part is preferably moulded in a polyetherimide such as that sold under the Trade Mark ULTEM by GE Plastics Limited. Other suitable hard plastics materials include polycarbonate or glass-filled nylon, particularly 30% glass-filled nylon 6, or glass-fibre reinforced polyester such as 45% glass-fibre reinforced polyester sold by Bayer AG under the Trade Mark POCAN.

The plastics materials used in the male part of an ear tag according to the invention should not inhibit the transmission of electromagnetic waves. Any plastics materials used in the ear tag should be bacteria resistant and resistant to ultra violet light, as is known to those skilled in the art.

Instead of the looped strip type of tag specifically described herein, the present invention may also be used with an ear tag of the type which is commercially available having two separate plates or buttons, one of which has the male part mounted therein and the other of which has the female part formed therein. In this case, the cap housing may be moulded integrally with one of the plates or buttons.

One of the embodiments described herein has an electronic identification device housed within the male part of the tag. However the present invention may also be used with an ear tag having an electronic device mounted elsewhere in the tag, for example in the cap, in the strip, particularly the throat portion thereof, or in the limb 950908 - 5 adjacent to the female part of the tag or (for a tag having two separate plates or buttons) in one of the plates or buttons. Alternatively, the tag may be non-electronic.

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a vertical cross section (on the centre line of the strip) of the first embodiment of the ear tag, shown in the closed position.

Figure 2 is a projection of the tag of Figure 1, shown in the closed position.

Figure 3 is an elevation of the male part of the tag in the direction of arrow VIII in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a plan view of part of the tag in the open position, seen from above in the orientation of Figure 1.

Figures 5-8 are projections of four forms of cap insert for use in the tag of Figures 1-4 and 10.

Figure 9 is a projection of portion of a tagging tool, showing the seat for the ear tag of Figures 1-4 and 10.

Figure 10 is a vertical cross section on the line A-A in Figure 13 of a second embodiment of ear tag, shown in the closed position, similar to Figure 1.

Figure 11 is a vertical partial cross-section of a third embodiment of ear tag, shown in the closed position, similar to part of Figure 1 or 10.

Figure 12 is a top plan view of the tag of Figure 11.

Figure 13 is an underneath plan view of the female part of the tag of Figures 11 and 12.

Figure 14 is a pictorial view of a cap insert for use in the tag of Figures 11 to 13.

Figure 15 is a projection of part of a modified tagging tool for use with the tag of Figure 11.

Figure 16 is an end view of the part of the tagging tool shown in Figure 15.

In the drawings, similar reference numerals are used for similar parts. 950608 - 6 As shown in Figures 1-4 an ear tag comprises a strip 1 of flexible soft plastics material which has a waisted portion 2 at the middle which is of reduced width and thickness as compared to the limbs 3 and 4, to facilitate folding of the strip into a loop having the two limbs 3 and 4 parallel to one another and to provide a weakened region for the reasons already explained. The weakest point is at the line 69 where the flows of plastics material from two directions have mot.

The fixing device comprises a male part 5 mounted at the free end of one limb 3 and a female part defining a round receiver hole 6 close to the free end of the other limb 4.

The male part 5 comprises a stem 30 and a head portion 31. The stem 30 comprises an outer sleeve 32 of soft plastics material formed integrally with the looped strip 1 and a rivet 34 of relatively hard and rigid plastics material (e.g. ULTEM from GE Plastics Limited) which is partly housed within the outer sleeve 32. Above the outer sleeve the rivet 34 has a collar 135 extending to form the outer surface of the stem 30. The head portion 31 of the rivet comprises a skirt 50 extending upwardly from the stem 30 and an insertable head 37 with a conical top which is a push fit into the recess defined by the skirt.

The head 37 is of hard plastics material, and has a series of external circumferential ribs (not shown) which interact with circumferential grooves (also not shown) on the internal surface of the skirt 50 to retain the head.

Below the head portion 31 of the rivet there is a neck 38 of reduced diameter and a shoulder 39 providing the transition to the collar portion 135 which has a frusto-conical surface. The frusto-conical surface engages in a corresponding internal surface of a mould which results in elimination of the occurence of flashing during moulding of the soft plastics material.

Likewise the frusto-conical surface of the part 95 of the foot portion 152 above the groove 161 cooperates with a corresponding mould surface. Thus the rivet 34 when located in a mould defines and limits 950608 - 7 the extent of flow of soft plastics material at the top and bottom of the sleeve 32.

The rivet defines a cylindrical chamber 14 to receive a cylindrical electronic responder as described in W0 91/10982. In the event that a non-electronic ear tag is required, the responder may be omitted and the rivet may be solid, with an integral head portion.

The neck portion 38 of the- rivetmay be ’forTnetl'wfEtra“Tveak' point so that it breaks easily when force is applied.

The responder is inserted into the chamber 14 before the head 37 is inserted. A number and/or bar code corresponding to the code generated by the responder may be engraved or printed on the outer surface of one or both limbs.

Below the collar portion the rivet 34 has a cylindrical body portion 51 surrounding the chamber 14, and a foot portion 152 which closes the bottom of the chamber 14 and extends to the base of the stem. The cylindrical body portion 51 has a series of external circumferential ribs 53 and channels 54 there between. 950608 - 8 At diametrically opposed locations, there are two lugs 55 of cylindrical cross-section projecting from the body portion. When the rivet 34 is being manufactured by moulding in a vertically split mould, the lugs 55 are formed on the split line of the mould. In an alternative embodiment (not shown) there may be additional lugs which are positioned at 90° to the split line of the mould.

The rivet 34 of hard plastics material is held in the sleeve 32 of relatively soft plastics- material· (e.grDesnroT5an S90 from Bayer AG) which has been moulded around the rivet integrally with the strip 1 so that the soft plastics material flows around the lugs 55 and into the channels 54 so that the sleeve 32 is keyed to the rivet 34. The strip has a reinforcing throat portion 56 which increases in thickness towards the sleeve 32 (see Figure 4 of IE S60057).

The sleeve 32 has a frusto-conical shape following on from that of the collar portion 35, so that the male part is generally frusto-conical from the shoulder 39 down to the junction line 58 at the top of the reinforcing throat portion 56 which is the line of greatest diameter of the male part.

Below the junction line 58, the leading edge of the sleeve 32 (i.e. the face remote from the looped strip) is tapered inwardly and downwardly in a part-conical surface 59 (see Figures 1, 2 and 5). The male part is at the end of the strip and there is no portion of the strip projecting beyond the male part i.e. in the direction facing away from the looped strip. When the tag is applied to an animal's ear, the male part will generally be encased in the flesh of the ear as far as the junction line 58 and the limb 3 will be at the outside of the ear. Any wire or twine which engages against the sleeve 32 below the line 58 will slide off due to the frusto-conical shape.

The foot portion 152 of the rivet below the groove 161 has a cylindrical surface in order to improve stability of engagement between the foot portion and a recess in an applicator tool (see Figure 9).

A circumferential groove 161 having parallel walls is recessed 950608 - 9 into the foot portion 152 of the rivet. The mouth of the groove is of such small width that the risk of a wire or twine becoming snagged in it is negligible. The groove 161 cooperates with a projection on a tagging tool (see Figure 9) to locate the ear tag in the tool.

The female part of the fixing device is similar to that described in W0 91/10982. The receiver hole 6 is enclosed by a frusto-conical protective cap 145 moulded integrally with the strip 1. Inside the cap 145 there is located a domed split'“washenyr’spee'd clip or~Starlock* washer 26 of resilient material, suitably metal. Other forms of annular non-return clip or split collar may also be used. The washer or clip has its perimeter embedded in the plastics material of the cap 145 and/or the strip 1, most suitably by moulding the plastics material around the washer or clip in situ. The washer or clip may have an upturned perimeter (see Figure 1) to enhance the embedding effect.

The tag is applied in the same manner as described in WO 91/10982. The head 37 pierces the flesh of the animal's ear and enters into the receiver hole 6. The head portion 31 is forced through the washer or clip 26. The leaves of the washer or clip 26 then engage the rivet in the reduced diameter region of the neck 38.

If desired, the limb 3 of the strip may be of reduced width as compared to limb 4. For example, the width of limb 3 may be equal to or less than the width of the waisted portion 2, provided that the width of limb 3 is not less than that of the throat portion 56 (see Figure 4 of IE S60057).

The protective cap 145 of soft plastics material surrounding the receiver hole 6 in the female part houses a frangible insert 70 of brittle plastics material such as general purpose polystyrene or crystal polystyrene. The insert 70, shown more particularly in Figure 5, has the general shape of a hat with a frangible disc-shaped crown 71 at the top, a frusto-conical side wall 72 and a brim 73 at the bottom. The brim 73 sits in contact with the resilient washer or speed clip 26, the side wall 72 lies inside the wall of the cap 145 and the crown 71 is exposed and effectively forms the top of the cap. The crown 71 950609- 10 may be flat or concave.

As shown in Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5, the crown 71 is perforated by three holes 74, spaced equiangularly around the crown (in Figure 1, two of the holes are shown for convenience, although only one would normally be visible on the vertical cross-section line). The holes 74 make the crown 71 more liable to fracture if pressure is applied to the crown. They also allow circulation of air inside the cap 145 to inhibit necrosis from suppuration of the hole in the animal's flesh made by the rivet penetrating the ear.

The crown 71 of the insert is liable to fracture if an attempt is made to tamper with the closed tag by pressing the crown to force the rivet downwardly. Fracture of the crown 71 is readily visible to the eye, so that an attempt to tamper with the tag becomes evident on inspection. If desired, the insert 70 may be made of plastics material which is a different colour to that of the cap 145 (and the strip 1) so that fracture of the crown 71 is readily visible.

In manufacturing the tag, the insert 70 is placed at one end of a mould and the washer or speed-clip 26 is located on top of it. The rivet 5 is mounted at the other end of the mould. The soft plastics material is then moulded around the insert 70, washer 26 and rivet 5 in situ. No separate means for locating the washer 26 in the mould is required.

In the tag of IE S60057, holes 46 in the cap are useful for providing entry of locating means to hold the washer 26 during moulding. This is not necessary with the insert 70. Figure 6 shows an alternative form of insert 70 without holes 74 in the crown 71. The crown is sufficiently thin and brittle to shatter when deliberate pressure is applied to it.

Figures 7 and 8 show further variations of the insert as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. In these embodiments, the insert does not have a continuous side wall 72 but has three legs 75 connecting the crown 71 with the brim 73. The legs which are spaced equiangularly 950608 around the insert support the crown 71 at three places only, and therefore render it more prone to fracture when pressure is applied. As shown, the legs are placed radially outwardly of the holes 74 and fracture occurs most readily between the holes.

In alternative embodiments of the invention the insert 70 may be formed of metal instead of brittle plastics material. The insert may take any of the forms shown in Figures 10 - 13. If the crown 71 is of a brittle metal alloy and is sufficiently thin to fracture under applied pressure, it will form a frangible crown portion comparable to that of the brittle plastics material. Alternatively, if the crown 71 is of a tough metal such as stainless steel, it will either resist deformation (in which case tampering by means of pressure on the crown is prevented), or it will be permanently deformed e.g. by indentation, in which case visual evidence of tampering will be provided.

Figure 9 shows in diagrammatic form an end portion of an applicator tool which is designed to receive the foot portion 152 of the rivet when the tag is being applied to an animal's ear. One arm 80 of the tool has a top surface 81 on which limb 3 of the tag is placed. At the free end of the arm 80 there is a recess 82 which has rectangular openings to both the top surface 81 and the end surface 83. Projecting into the recess 82 there is a flange 84 which defines a U-shaped slot. The flange is spaced above the base of the recess by a distance which is marginally greater than the separation of the groove 161 from the bottom surface of the foot portion 152. The rectangular opening in the end surface 83 has marginally greater dimensions than foot portion 152. Thus the foot portion 152 can slide into the recess 82 from the end of the tool arm and the flange 84 enters the groove 161. When the foot portion has entered the recess to the extent that the curved part of the flange is engaged in the groove 161, the foot portion is retained in stable manner in the applicator tool. The bottom surface of the foot portion 152 bears against the base of the recess when pressure is applied to fix the tag to an animal's ear.

For applying an ear tag of the kind shown in IE S60057, the recess 82 may be shaped appropriately to receive the foot portion 52. 950608’ - 12 Figure 10 shows a further embodiment of the invention which does not have an electronic responder but which is otherwise generally similar to the embodiment of Figures 1 to 4, and the same reference numerals are used for similar parts. The rivet 34 does not have a chamber 14 and there is no requirement for the head 37 to be removable. The rivet 34 is therefore moulded as a solid integral unit and it has a solid cylindrical body portion 151. Its external shape corresponds to the rivet of Figure 1 and it is held in a sleeve 32 of soft plastics material. It is preferred to use glass-filled nylon as the hard material for making the solid rivet.

As an optional feature, the embodiment of Figure 10 may have an electronic responder 90 retained in the throat portion 56 of the strip. In a further alternative, the electronic responder may be retained in the limb 4 of the strip, adjacent to the female part.

Figures 11 to 13 show a third embodiment of ear tag which shows several differences from that of Figure 10. As seen more particularly in Figure 13, the soft plastics material forming the cap 245 is moulded around the split washer 26 and the insert 170 in such a manner that a region 20 of soft plastics material is formed inside the insert, above the washer. Four vertical slots 21 extend upwardly in the region 20 of soft plastics material, in line with the four splits 22 in the washer 26. This allows the soft plastics material above the washer to admit the head portion 31 of the rivet when the tag is being closed, because the soft plastics material is compressed by the head 31 but can take up the space provided by the slots. Figure 11 shows the position when the tag is closed, with the maximum diameter portion 33 of the head portion 31 being slightly embedded into the soft plastics material 20. As compared to Figure 10, the maximum diameter portion of the head 31 extends for a smaller length of the rivet, so as to minimize the displacement of the soft plastics material 20. The neck portion 38 of the rivet is correspondingly longer than in Figure 10, so that the shoulder 39 does not enter into the receiver hole 6. This avoids obstruction of the receiver hole by flesh of the animal's ear being pushed by the shoulder 39 as the rivet is being closed. It is advantageous that the head 31 has passed the washer 26 before flesh cut 9506097 - 13 by the rivet enters the receiver hole 6. Hard material of the rivet is preferably glass-filled nylon. The washer 26 has a split dome portion which is inclined more steeply than that of Figure 10. This increases the gripping effect of the washer 26 on the neck portion 38 and resists retraction of the rivet, while at the same time the steepness of the washer minimizes the displacement of the soft plastics material 20 above it when the head 31 is being pushed through the washer.

The cap 245 of soft plastics material surrounding the receiver hole 6 houses an insert 170 of hard and rigid material such as glass-filled nylon. As seen in Figure 14, and as shown in cross-section in Figure 11, the insert 170 has a dome-shaped crown 171 at the top with a frusto-conical upper side wall 172 which extends down to a ledge portion 173. The soft plastics material of the cap 245 comes up to the level of this ledge portion. Below the ledge portion 173, the insert has a generally frusto conical lower side wall 174, which becomes cylindrical in its lowest portion 175. This portion 175 sits in contact with the washer 26. The lower side wall 174, 175, is completely surrounded by the soft plastics material of the cap 245, and the hat portion formed by the crown 171 and upper sidewall 172 is exposed and effectively forms the top of the cap. The crown 171 is not resiliently deformable, and is hard enough to resist attempts at tampering. In the event that enough pressure is applied to the crown, it will break rather than deform, so that visual evidence of tampering is provided.

As compared to Figure 10, the series of external circumferential ribs 53 and channels 54 on the cylindrical body portion 51 of the rivet is made more regular and there are no lugs such as shown at 55 in Figures 1 and 10.. The throat portion 56 of the strip 3 does not increase in thickness all the way to the sleeve 32, so that the throat portion does not reach the same height as the line 58 which is the line of greatest diameter of the male part. The foot portion 152 has a dish-shaped dimple 153 in its base, to co-operate with the applicator tool, as described below. 950608 - 14' The embodiment of Figure 11 may be provided with an electronic identification device in a similar manner to the embodiments of Figure 1 or 10.

Figures 15 and 16 show an end portion of the applicator tool, which is generally similar to Figure 9. The steel flange 84 which fits the groove 161 on the foot portion of the rivet has chamfered lead in corners 154 to facilitate entry of the tag into the recess 82. The base of the recess is provided with a spring-loaded ball 155 which sits into the dimple 153 on the base of the tag when the tag is correctly positioned in the applicator. The user can feel the click as the ball 155 engages in the dimple. The distance between the flange 84 and the base 85 of the recess corresponds to the height of the foot portion 152 so that the tag sits on the base of the recess at the same time as it is supported by the steel flange 84, thus avoiding deflection of the steel flange and thereby keeping the rivet in the correct alignment when the tag is being applied.

In this description and in the claims, the terms up, down, upper, lower, vertical, horizontal and the like refer to the ear tag as disposed in Figures 1, 10 and 11 of the drawings. In use, the tag would be applied through part of an animal's ear with the male part generally horizontal and the female part at the inner face of the ear.

Claims (5)

1. An ear tag comprising interfitting male and female parts for fixing the tag to an animal's ear, the male part having a head for piercing an animal's ear and the female part having a receiver hole through which the head of the male part is passed to interfit the parts, wherein the female part includes a cap which receives the head of the male part when the parts are interfitted and the cap has a crown portion which is not resiliently deformable.

2. An ear tag according to claim 1 wherein the crown portion is rigid and/or frangible.

3. An ear tag according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the cap comprises a housing of soft plastics material and an insert of rigid and/or brittle material which provides the crown portion.

4. An ear tag according to any of the preceding claims wherein the soft plastics material forming the inner wall of the cap is interrupted by a plurality of slots extending in the direction of movement of the male part.

5. An ear tag according to claim 1, substantially as described herein with reference to and/or as illustrated in one or more of the accompanying drawings.